Monthly Archives: June 2011

When Stephen C. Haglund proposed to his wife, he flipped open a pack of Marlboro cigarettes to reveal the engagement ring. He thought nothing of trudging through a New England blizzard just to buy smokes. And he kept on puffing ...

Twice a year Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly publishes the names of the individuals who have passed the bar exam. The following passed the exam held on Feb. 23-24, according to the Board of Bar Examiners.

Where appellant AT&T Corporation is seeking an abatement of public service corporate franchise taxes for the tax years ending Dec. 31, 1996 through Dec. 31, 1999, we conclude that the appellant is entitled to relief in the total amount of $2,108,137.

Where the appellant owner of 19 buildable but unimproved Westwood subdivision lots has sought a property tax abatement for fiscal year 2009, we hold that the request must be denied because the lots were not overvalued by the appellee board of assessors.

Where a plaintiff in a trademark dispute has requested discovery from an investigator employed by the defendant, the discovery request should be granted with respect to facts learned during the course of the investigation.

Where a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge found that a mortgage on a condominium unit was obsolete under Massachusetts law, a U.S. District Court order reversing that ruling was proper in light of a tolling provision associated with the automatic stay applicable under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The State Ethics Commission has found that Middlesex Registry of Deeds First Assistant Register Edward Wheeler violated the conflict of interest law. Wheeler has admitted to using registry equipment and work time to conduct his own private law practice. Accordingly, ...

Where the Middlesex Registry of Deeds First Assistant Register used registry equipment and work time to conduct his private law practice, this amounted to a conflict of interest resulting in a $5,000 civil penalty.

Regular readers of this column know that we have discussed the interesting phenomenon of law firm lateral hiring surging during the Great Recession, even as other lawyers have been let go and hiring from law schools has plummeted.